Nike Agrees to Sell Cole Haan for $570 Million | News

As many of you already know, Nike recently announced that they would be divesting from Cole Haan, and eventually selling the once acquired Chicago-based footwear brand. The news came as a shock to many with the recent successes of the casual footwear brand. That was several months ago. Today, Nike Inc. reached an agreement with Apax Partners to alleviate Cole Haan for $570 million dollars. The sale is expected to take place sometime in early 2013.

In the original press release back in May, Nike announced their intent to divest from Cole Haan and Umbro. The decision was made to devote more attention to in-house endeavors as said by Nike CEO Mark Parker, “The decision to divest of Cole Haan allows us to sharpen our focus on opportunities with the highest potential for strong returns, and to make sure the brands within the NIKE, Inc. portfolio are the most complementary to the NIKE Brand.”

Do you think Nike will really benefit from the sale of Cole Haan? And how will Cole Haan fair now as an independent? Let us know what you think.